| The literature reveals that there are disparities between the working conditions for part- and full-time faculty at community colleges. Yet, part-time faculty constitute 58 percent of the instructional staff at community colleges (AAUP Committee G, 1992, pp. 5-6) and teach substantially more than half of the classes (Gappa and Leslie, 1993, p. 227). Additionally, there appear to be different expectations about the part-time faculty role among significant staff members. These incongruent circumstances make it difficult for part-time faculty to achieve role clarity in carrying out their teaching responsibilities.; Using role theory as a conceptual framework and qualitative methods, this research was conducted to investigate the ways in which part-time faculty jointly construct their role with significant members of their departmental social system at a mid-size community college. The guiding research question was: How is the role of part-time faculty member jointly constructed by part-time faculty, full-time faculty, and other community college staff?; Audiotaped interviews were conducted with nine women part-time faculty members from three different disciplines--science, applied sciences, and humanities--and their self-identified members of their role sets. In all, there were 24 participants--the nine focal part-timers, nine administrators (five chairpersons, two deans, and two satellite directors), five full-time faculty members, and one part-time faculty member who is a team teacher with a focal participant.; Notwithstanding the small sample, the findings indicate that rarely is there joint role construction occurring in these departments (Managerial Careers, Life Sciences, and English and Humanities) because the interactive communication patterns needed for mutual role construction are usually lacking. Furthermore, the feedback between role senders and receivers which is necessary to clarify and promote mutual role definition rarely transpires. As a result, the part-timers are barely moving from the most basic role acquisition level, role taking, to that of central importance to the organization, role routinization. This explains why the part-timers, while putting out tremendous effort in teaching and receiving excellent student evaluations, continue to feel alienated and unappreciated in this college environment. |
